Information architecture for the interactive environment

ABSTRACT

A system and method for providing management such as creation, manipulation, storage, control, and retrieval of digital content for a company on a global basis. Digital content is created and stored in, for example, the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) format using the relationship between component mapping information and content information comprising webpage components. The XML data is developed by defining page components, mapping the components on a page and indexing the page for future retrieval of the page. The data is then stored in a single database, as segments related to the page, for call-up by a user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, claims priority to and thebenefit of U.S. Ser. No. 11/871,979 filed on Oct. 13, 2007 and entitled“INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE FOR THE INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENT”. The '979application is a continuation of, claims priority to and the benefit ofU.S. Pat. No. 7,293,230 issued on Nov. 6, 2007 (aka Ser. No. 09/769,887filed on Jan. 25, 2001) and entitled “INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE FOR THEINTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENT”. The '230 patent is the non-provisional of,claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/178,456 filed on Jan. 27, 2000 and entitled “INFORMATION ARCHITECTUREFOR THE INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENT”. The entire contents of all areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure relates generally to methods and apparatus for managingcontent of a company-wide intranet or internet website, and moreparticularly, to systems for organizing data related in a singledatabase so the content can be managed from a global perspective.

BACKGROUND OF DISCLOSURE

As more and more companies begin to provide a presence on the internet,they are confronted with the issues of presentation of information andconformity within the preparation of the presentations. Various schemeshave been presented to assist the companies in preparing thepresentation screens that would appear on the internet website, alongwith placing the presentation of the page in a location or locationsthat are linked, requiring a user to traverse various web pages toobtain the presentation desired. Such approaches have included delegatedauthority systems, have used content aggregation, have providedgraphical interfaces and dynamically generated web documents. Othergeneral website management has included editing and generatinginformation, data access/processing systems, automatic publishingsystems and group ware systems. These approaches generally demand aknowledge of the HTML operating language, a capability generally onlyfound in the website programmers and not among general employees.

The prior art generally fails to disclose a process for implementingchanges to an internet website, such that employees in a corporation maydefine and enforce a common style of page layout to provide anapplication that can be accessed by multiple users at the same time byan internet browser, where the application allows corporate employees tomanage content, create new web pages, process content through workflow,and define new content and style which can then be provided to a userwithout an undue amount of searching to find the desired information.Accordingly, once the presentation page is completed, data elementsrelating to the significance of the content are utilized to storeinformation relating to the content in various locations or sites, withthe various sites interconnected through the use of links. Thus, toobtain the information desired, a user may, of necessity, be forced totraverse several links to obtain the desired page with the requiredinformation.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The previously described deficiencies in the prior art are addressed inthe present disclosure which, in conjunction with a content managementapplication, provides an intranet application to provide a system forimplementing changes to both an intranet or an internet website and,permitting a company to manage content for its website from a globalperspective. The content, created and stored once, can then be sharedand managed across a global organization. The information architecturesystem is the basic underlying infrastructure that allows a company toefficiently manage its content while taking advantage of variousefficiencies. The data can thus be viewed from a holistic perspectiveutilizing a structure of website contents that results from therelationship between objects on the physical pages, i.e., appearanceonly, instead of the prior art reliance on the significance of the dataelements displayed on the page, thereby providing a look and feel drivenstructure. The system function supports a workflow model for thelaunching of content and is extensible so the information architecturedoes not need to be expanded in order to support new data. Further, thesystem is platform and software independent whereby the content storedin the infrastructure can be delivered on any platform with the systemproviding granularity of content management. In various embodiments, thesystem makes use of the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) to storerelevant content. The use of XML provides extensible data schema,content reuse, also known as repurposing, and flexible look and feel.Since the information architecture is XML based, it can be implementedeither using a database, XML repository or a flat file based system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present disclosureare hereinafter described in the following detailed description ofvarious embodiments to be read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing figures, wherein like reference numerals are used to identifythe same or similar parts or steps in the similar views, and:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary representation of the workflow and page storageaspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram depicting an embodiment of theInformation Architecture System using Content Management of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary block diagram depicting a user accessing theglobal database of the Information Architecture System;

FIGS. 4 a-4 c are exemplary screen presentations provided by a user ofthe Information Architecture System; and

FIG. 5 is an exemplary workflow diagram depicting a logical data modelof the information architecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components and various processing steps. It should be appreciatedthat such functional blocks may be realized by any number of hardwareand/or software components configured to perform the specifiedfunctions. For example, the software elements of the present disclosuremay be implemented with any programming or scripting language such as C,C++, Java, PERL, or the like, with the various algorithms beingimplemented with any combination of data structures, objects, processes,routines or other programming elements. Further it should be noted thatthe present disclosure may employ any number of conventional techniquesfor data transmission, signaling, data processing, network control, andthe like. Still further, the disclosure could be used to detect orprevent security issues with a scripting language, such as JavaScript,VBScript or the like.

It should be appreciated that the particular implementations shown anddescribed herein are illustrative of the disclosure and its best modeand are not intended to otherwise limit the scope of the presentdisclosure in any way. Indeed, for the sake of brevity, conventionaldata networking, application development and other functional aspects ofthe systems (and components of the individual operating components ofthe systems) may not be described in detail herein. Furthermore, theconnecting lines shown in the various figures contained herein areintended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or physicalcouplings between the various elements. It should be noted that manyalternative or additional functional relationships or physicalconnections may be present in a practical electronic transaction system.

As hereinafter described, the present disclosure is directed to a systemand method for providing management such as creation, manipulation,storage, control, and retrieval of digital content for use in such as acompany website on a global basis and includes support for new pagelayouts and component layouts (i.e., support for new presentation styleswhether in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Wireless Markup Language(WML), PDF, or any other authoring language in which the presentationmay be written).

Further, the present disclosure permits content repurposing, i.e., thereuse of existing content for other forms of media once the content hasbeen produced and stored in a database. Accordingly, repurposing permitsuse of the content in such forms as mail, print, or other websites orany application in which the printed or electronic word is used andwhich may take advantage of the content stored in the database.

The information architecture of the present disclosure provides for aseparation of data from the presentation itself. Thus, the informationarchitecture data content, not being tied to the presentation, may, forexample, enable the database to support various foreign languages,formats and medias.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown at 100 an exemplaryrepresentation of the flow diagram of the information architecturesystem of the present disclosure. The site administrator 102, initiatesa project to develop a new web page by assigning an author 106 to createthe page and its XML representation is stored in the database using acontent management application system 108. This starts the workflow 104whereby the author creates the page, then the author submits it forapproval through various levels. Once the approvals are obtained, thesite administrator 102 approves a content launch 110. While variousscripting languages may be used in creating content and/or a page, byway of example only and not by way of limitation, the content/page iswritten in the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and is stored indatabase 120 as an XML file.

An external web user 130 wishing to access the information contained inthe page would request the page through a Content Delivery Application(CDA) translator 140. The CDA translator 140 would query the database120, retrieve the page and translate the XML file into an HTML page orany other presentation format suitable for user's device forpresentation to the user 130.

Referring now to FIG. 2, various embodiments is shown at 200. Thisembodiment uses a workflow group, such as shown in FIG. 1, under controlof the local site administrator 202. The workflow group includes acontent author 206 and content approvers 208. Once the siteadministrator 202 initiates a project and verbally communicates the userID and password to each new user designated in the workflow, designatedcontent author 206 creates and edits items using content managementapplications.

Designated content approvers 208 review the content items produced bycontent author 206 and pass them through an approval process. Contentapprovers 208 mark the items as approved or rejected and, when the newcontent has been approved by all concerned users in the workflow, localsite administrator 202 launches the content to the global database 220.Users, using web browsers 230 a, 230 b, 230 c, interface through theworldwide web 232 to review the launched content. In some instances, therequest must be processed through a firewall 234 providing security tothe global database 220. Again, the XML file from the global databasecontaining the requested information is processed through a CDAtranslator into HTML, or a representation suitable for the user'sdevice, passed through the firewall 234 and presented in an HTML orsuitable representative language format on the worldwide web 232 foraccess by the web user requesting the information.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown an exemplary block diagram at300 of a user accessing the global database of the network architecturesystem of the present disclosure. A user 330 connects to the internet orworldwide web 332, logging on through a firewall 334, if such ispresent, to a CDA translator to request information from database 320.The database, comprising various XML files relating to the various pagesstored therein in XML, as Segment 1, 350, Segment 2, 352 through SegmentX, 354. Once the proper segment containing the requested page islocated, it is transmitted from the database 320 to the CDA translator,which translates the XML file to, for example, an HTML page forpresentation through the firewall 334 to the internet 332 forpresentation to user 330.

Referring also to FIGS. 4 a-4 c, exemplary screen presentationsaccessible by user of the network architecture system are shown. Thepresentations 4 a, 4 b, 4 c correspond to the various segments 350, 352,354 depicted in FIG. 3 comprising the information relating to thecontent contained within the page.

Referring now to FIG. 5, each exemplary information segment shown inFIG. 3 may be seen to include a top level index to the informationcontained within the page/segment at 502. The page index defines thelocation of page level information at 504. Page level information 504defines segment component mapping at 506. Information contained withinpage component mapping 506 relates to component content information 508.Component content information 508 contains information relating to thevarious parts of a page, such as the navigation components, thecross-sell components, copyright components, and the like. Additionally,the component content information 508 includes page key wordrelationships, along with the component type information 510. Componenttype information 510 further defines the component item information usedin generating various items within a page. Base element information 514provides information used in developing the component item information512.

Accordingly, corresponding structures, acts, and equivalents of allelements in the claims below are intended to include any structuralmaterial or acts for performing the functions in combination with otherelements as specifically claimed. The scope of the disclosure should bedetermined by the allowed claims and their legal equivalents, ratherthan by the examples given above. When a phrase similar to “at least oneof A, B, or C” or “at least one of A, B, and C” is used in the claims orspecification, Applicants intend the phrase to mean any of thefollowing: (1) at least one of A; (2) at least one of B; (3) at leastone of C; (4) at least one of A and at least one of B; (5) at least oneof B and at least one of C; (6) at least one of A and at least one of C;or (7) at least one of A, at least one of B, and at least one of C.

1. A method comprising: retrieving, by a computer-based system formanaging digital content, a category tag click count for a componentcorresponding to a user; analyzing, by said computer-based system, saidcategory tag click count to determine a level of interest forestablishing user preferences; retrieving, by said computer-basedsystem, said component according to said user preferences; andpositioning, by said computer-based system, said retrieved component onan updated content page.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingstoring said component as a markup language file.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein said markup language file is in at least one of: aneXtensible Markup Language (XML) format and an HTML format.
 4. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising translating said markup languagefile to an HTML format for presentation on a website.
 5. The method ofclaim 2, wherein said storing said component as said markup languagefile includes storing said markup language file in an extensibledatabase that is platform and software independent.
 6. The method ofclaim 2, wherein said storing said component as said markup languagefile includes storing said markup language file in at least one of: adatabase and a file system.
 7. The method of claim 2, wherein saidstoring said component as said markup language file includes storingsaid markup language file, wherein said markup language file is an XMLfile, in an extensible database that is platform and softwareindependent.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein said positioningcomprises positioning said retrieved component on said updated contentpage according to content mapping data.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein said positioning comprising positioning said retrieved componenton said updated content page according to content mapping data, whereinsaid content mapping data includes instructions for mapping saidcomponent to said updated content page.
 10. The method of claim 1,further comprising creating said updated content page.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said component includes a category tag corresponding tosaid user preferences.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprisingreceiving a request to create updated content for said updated contentpage, wherein said updated content comprises components.
 13. The methodof claim 12, further comprising creating said components according tosaid request.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising storingeach of said components within a markup language file.
 15. The method ofclaim 13, further comprising storing each of said components within amarkup language file globally accessible by a reviewer
 16. The method ofclaim 15, wherein said components are decoupled from said content page.17. The method of claim 16, further comprising creating said updatedcontent page in response to each of said components having beenauthorized, wherein said updated content page does not include saidcomponents and comprises said content mapping data.
 18. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising routing said components to a reviewer,wherein each of said components is individually routed.
 19. An articleof manufacture comprising a non-transitory, tangible computer readablemedium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to executionby a computer-based system for managing digital content, cause saidcomputer-based system to perform operations comprising: retrieving, bysaid computer-based system, a category tag click count for a componentcorresponding to a user; analyzing, by said computer-based system, saidcategory tag click count to determine a level of interest forestablishing user preferences; retrieving, by said computer-basedsystem, said component according to said user preferences; andpositioning, by said computer-based system, said retrieved component onan updated content page.
 20. A system comprising: a processor formanaging digital content, a tangible, non-transitory memory configuredto communicate with the processor, said tangible, non-transitory memoryhaving instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution bysaid processor, cause said processor to perform operations comprising:retrieving, by said processor, a category tag click count for acomponent corresponding to a user; analyzing, by said processor, saidcategory tag click count to determine a level of interest forestablishing user preferences; retrieving, by said processor, saidcomponent according to said user preferences; and positioning, by saidprocessor, said retrieved component on an updated content page.